Ello

Mural Progress: Get A Sneak PeekIt’s no small feat to create a mural. Check out the progress three artists are making as they work on their large-scale pieces at the Cook’s Club Hotel in Crete. In partnership with Talenthouse.

Curu Miyuki Okada

First off, tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an artist. When I was 17 years old I decided to study art, after I graduated I worked as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. I had a good career in Tokyo, and then moved to London to study English. Now I live in The Netherlands to finalise my Masters graphics.

What are some of your must-have tools or supplies?
MacBook, pen tablet, Mitsubishi uni ball (pen) on the glass table in a silent space.

Tell us about your inspiration for this piece.
Inspired by the Huraki Marukami, and Greek history.

Have you ever made something to this scale before?
No, this is one of my biggest projects.

How are you enjoying the beginning stages of the process so far? Best bits? Challenges?
At first, I was very nervous, but my friend who is a great graphic designer coming to Crete to help me has given me the confidence to finish well.

What types of emotions or messages are you trying to convey with this piece of art?To look back at the historic story of Crete, regarding both its nature and in regards to literature too. Many guests are reading here - it would be good if the hotel has Haruki Murakami’s works available for people to read.

How are you using your medium/use of colour/style to portray these emotions?
I only use only the “Cook’s Club” colours as the hotels. The space is already colourful - so I’m keeping with these colours to keep them familiar.

How do you see the role of the artist evolving in today’s ever-more-digital world?
Nowadays many people can express themselves on digital media. It is important to remember to keep live/”Real-life” art alive.

Mark Walters

First off, tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an artist. Studying art from a young age I have always had an interest in art thanks to my nana, who took me to a lot of galleries and exhibitions when I was young. I have focused on making a career in the creative industry by studying as a designer and then working as a professional graphic designer for the last 7 years. In the last few years I have been equally focusing back on creating art pieces and working with the skills that I learned earlier in my studying but now with the knowledge and drive of being a designer makes me want to create more art and be as much of an artist as a designer.

What are some of your must-have tools or supplies?
It depends mostly on the job but I would say the main three would be pens, pencils, and paper, this is the starting point where you get down your sketches and ideas. I also use adobe illustrator because this is good for my style of work and working up your ideas digitally so you can see a visual of how the piece is going to look. For this project the must-have tools have been blue scotch tape think I will be using about 240 metres on this project, string, tape measure and a good set of brushes.

Tell us about your inspiration for this piece.
I wanted to create something that would invite people to interact with the work. The brief asked for something “instagrammable” so one of the pieces is the perfect backdrop for a picture. When you think about going on holiday, you immediately think about the sunshine, so both pieces have elements of this; the rays of colour on the photo ready wall, and the phrase “you are my sunshine” on the inside wall.

Have you ever made something to this scale before?
I normally work digitally or on large canvases and I’ve created custom artwork for interiors before but never this large.

How are you enjoying the beginning stages of the process so far? Best bits? Challenges?When you’re faced with a blank page, or in this case a blank wall, it’s always a bit daunting but as soon as you start painting it’s great. Seeing the brightness of the colours and peeling off the guide tapes to reveal the straight edges is really satisfying. The most challenging bit is getting the measurements right - both pieces are graphic and rely on precise measurements. And then the fun bit starts - the actual painting.

What types of emotions or messages are you trying to convey with this piece of art?
I wanted to capture the warm, fun, feeling of being on holiday and make people stop, rather than just walking past.

How are you using your medium/use of colour/style to portray these emotions?
The Cooks Club brand colours are really strong and I always like to work with bold colour palettes in my work, which results (hopefully!) in a Nowadaysstriking piece of work. I’m passionate about typography and love working and experimenting with letters, so to be able to do this at such a large scale is great.

How do you see the role of the artist evolving in today’s ever-more-digital world?I work digitally most of the time as a designer but I always start with a pen and paper. I think it’s valuable to still use physical craft because there are some things that you just can’t replicate digitally. I think it’s both easier and harder now for people to get their work seen, because everyone has the tools to be creative in some way and it is easy to share your work. But know as much as ever it takes a lot of time and commitment to being an artist.

Sergiy Tsimbaliuk "Normski"

First off, tell us a little bit about your path to becoming an artist. When I was three or four years old my mum taught me how to draw ducks, and people were impressed with what I could do so I started from there and I also used to sit with a pen and draw the land. I attended private lessons after that when I was working, one of the artists in Kiev was the teacher.

What are some of your must-have tools or supplies? What could you not live without?
It’s paper and a pencil - the easiest one to answer. But I really enjoy spray paint and rollers. They are really satisfying to use.

What was your inspiration for this piece of artwork for Thomas Cook?
Actually, this piece is inspired by my favourite artists (a Polish duo called ETAM CRU, Norman Rockwell) and also the idea of the brief itself and the hotel concept. They helped inspire the detail of the folds and wrinkles in the towel. My friends actually reminded me when we were hanging out on our day off that needed to submit for this brief, and they waited a couple of hours for me while I drew my sketch.

Have you ever made or installed anything to this scale before?
No - this is the biggest one! I was an assistant before, e.g. covering large spaces with black paint. But drawing a sketch and blowing it up this much it’s the first time this big. I’ve done smaller pieces but this is a different experience for sure.

How are you enjoying the beginning stages of the installation process? What’s the best bit?
Best bits is just how it's worked out. I’m enjoying how it looks right now, as well as the process. I was expecting it to be much harder but its fine I guess! Best bits are people’s reactions, and people approaching me with kind words.

Have you faced any challenges?Challenges are being up in the cherry picker; you feel like you’ve been on a train for two days, everything is a little floaty when you come back down! Also the heat and the insects up there. Bee’s fly around and nowadays it's on the paint!

Have you tried to include or convey any emotions or messages in your work? If so, tell us about them and how you are using your medium / colour / style to portray them?
It’s kind of simple when you look at it, it’s a girl looking into the horizon. But I was trying to symbolize a “safe place” with the towel - you can see she is covered and feels safe and warm. I want people to be impressed after looking at it, and wonder how someone managed to do it!

Anything else you want to tell us about your work or this experience so far?
I took the colours from the Cook’s Club brand palette so they can be super on-brand and recognisable. I tried to keep it in a style that captured how the towel folded, to keep it nice and detailed.

How do you see the role of the artist evolving in today’s ever-more-digital world?
I think artists still have a big role - people are still more impressed from seeing a real peice of work being paint on a wall or a canvas. Myself, I was enjoying seeing the people watch. There were a lot of sweet artists out in Kiev, and sat around to watch them work. It pretty enjoyable to not just do digital things. But I painted the sketch in photoshop after I drew with pencil so actually both work. You cannot deny one or the other so you have to use all you’ve got.